The invention relates to a bending machine comprising a machine frame, an upper beam having an upper beam tool and a lower beam having a lower beam tool, the upper beam and the lower beam being mounted such that they can move relative to one another on the machine frame, and at least one drive for moving the upper beam tool and the lower beam tool toward one another in order to act on a workpiece made from flat material and located between the two beams.
Bending machines of this type are known from the prior art. In these bending machines, the drive is usually dimensioned such that it can generate sufficient forces to hold a workpiece securely between the upper beam and the lower beam.
However, this solution has the drawback that if a speed of the relative movement between upper beam and lower beam which is required for the desired processing times of the workpieces is to be reached, the forces with which the upper beam tool and the lower beam tool can act on the workpiece are limited or require a level of outlay which is not economically justifiable.
Therefore, the invention is based on the object of improving a bending machine of the generic type in such a manner that forces which are as high as possible are applied to the workpiece by the upper beam tool and lower beam tool at the lowest possible cost.